General Elder Law Issues

Concerned About How To Pay For Long Term Care in 2019? Start Here.

Are You Struggling To Figure Out How To Pay For Long Term Care For A Loved One In A Nursing Home?

long term careWe often think that Alabama Medicaid is the only way to pay for nursing home for our spouse or parent.

However, Medicaid is simply one solution among a number of solutions.

To properly determine how to pay for nursing home care, we have to look at the risk and then all of the options before we can adopt a … (Read more)


What is the difference in assisted living and memory care in assisted living?

What is the difference in assisted living and memory care in assisted living?Thousands of Alabama consumers need help or assistance with their activities of daily living and so they turn to assisted living facilities.

Once you start looking, you’ll see that sometimes a place is described as a “memory care unit” in an assisted living facility.  [Note:  There can also be a memory care unit in a skilled nursing facility (nursing home) but this is different than what we will discuss in this article].

So what’s the difference and what are the … (Read more)


“What is an annuity under Elder Law?”

Many times when we’re helping families plan long term care, or maybe helping out families who are in a long term care crisis, the subject of annuities tends to come up.

An annuity under Elder Law is where we turn an asset into a steady stream of income.

We give money to the insurance company, and they hand us back a contract that says, “We will give you X amount of money back over a span of Y months.”

This … (Read more)


Definition of Estate Planning and Elder Law Words

The purpose of this section is to give you a short definition of many of the common words used in estate planning and elder law.  Within each definition, the italicized terms are listed in this glossary so you can find the definition of those as well.  Let me know any other words you would like to see added to this in the next edition — thanks!  (This is from our upcoming book).

Activities of Daily Living (ADL):  These are activities (Read more)


Will an inheritance interfere with my Social Security Disability Income and Medicare benefits?

Usually, it will not.

If you are receiving Social Security Disability Income or Insurance (SSDI) after you have worked and now become disabled, then this is not a means-based or means-tested benefit. It is rather a matter of whether you acquired enough work quarters (or credits or whatever Social Security calls it) and whether or not you meet their definition of disability.

Whether you receive an inheritance or not does not matter, because this is not means-based.

Medicare is also … (Read more)


Will an inheritance to my disabled child receiving SSI and Medicaid interfere with their benefits?

Here is a situation. You have a disabled child and she is receiving SSI. Note that this is Supplemental Security Income (SSI), not Social Security Disability Income (SSDI). SSI is a means-based or means-tested benefit. This means that certain requirements for income and assets musts be met in order to qualify. Medicaid works the same way.

What if your child is to receive an inheritance from a relative? Will this interfere with their SSI and Medicaid benefits?

Yes, the inheritance … (Read more)